The Children of X Live
by x-menobsessed26
Summary: A story about the children of the infamous X-men and how even through hardships, they can still prevail, told from the perspective of a stranger. AU, epilogue, one-shot


_Time : Post X-men : Evolution [Epilogue]_

_Narrator : 1st person Marvel/OC hybrid_

**_BEWARE!_**___: Not a lot of the characters will be explained. You must infer who they are by their names (ex. Gwen Summers = Jean and Scott's daughter). Don't read if you are going to complain about this!_

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My name is Aliya Dayspring. I am a senior at Bayville HIgh and you wouldn't believe, no, you wouldn't understand what I've seen. There was a group of other mutant teens at the high school, other than loners and secrets like myself for a bit, who call themselves the Children of X. You see, their parents, or at least one of each set, all belonged to the mutant hero division known widely as the X-men.

Whenever someone new arrives in the area, or when ignorant freshmen arrive at Bayville High, they are always warned. It's not usually anti-mutant prejudice fueling this fire. It's just the simple fact that these Children of X are a magnet for trouble. Unfortunately, sometimes innocent bystanders get involved in the trouble.

Like me.

That's where my story comes in. You see, I grew up in Bayville, but at the orphanage on the opposite side of town. I've never known my parents, and quickly realized that face was irrelevant. I found my comfort in helping kids younger than myself.

Growing up in Bayville, I grew up with a front row seat of the prejudice and hate following the X-men. It's a wonder they even decided to have children, but with how dangerous some of the X-men look, I wouldn't want to hurt their kids. I'd heard all of the stories before, but coming from an orphanage, where you ranked just above mutants on the social scale, I blocked them out, though some wariness seeped into me.

When I turned eleven, I discovered after being beaten by the town bullies that I had telepathy and telekinesis. I also realized that if I wanted to live, it would probably be best to pretend they didn't exist.

The plan worked well until May of my sophomore year. I'd gotten out of school late because I'd had to make up a missed test. Nothing could have prepared me for what was awaiting me outside.

It was widely acknowledged that the Children of X (you know what, that's begging to bother me. It's quite the mouthful. Let's go with C.o.X. from now on) were a personification of trouble, but very few people ever saw the trouble that came to them. Inexplicably, the people who saw the trouble often ended up joining the "newest" team of X-men at that time.

It seemed my time for being hidden was up. Smaller versions of the large and technically discontinued Sentinels rained down upon where I was, which was a sidewalk occupied with the C.o.X. One of the teens, a beautiful black girl named Medea, started fighting back with lightning. It didn't take long for the rest of them to join in to save one of their own : a blast here, a slice there, chaos everywhere.

It also didn't take long for them to be defeated.

Where was I when this was happening, you ask? I was struck down with shock (which you will notice becomes common for me in the coming days), unable to move or use my powers to help. I was effectively useless.

However, I wasn't invisible, because when the C.o.X. were captured, I was taken with them, grabbed by long, metal tentacles and thrown into a ridiculously dark chamber. The others, at least some, were in with me. I could hear their breathing, heavy from fighting.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been in there with them when he decided to speak, "Who's the stranger?"

I recognized the rough voice. Michael Logan. Medea Logan's half-brother, older by a month. Where his sister was a sweet badass, he was a man who gave no shits. Something like this seemed to be a normal Tuesday for him. I wondered if some of that hardness came from the relentless taunting about his parentage (his father and superhero known as the Wolverine and his mother a prostitute known as Amber).

"Her name is Aliya Dayspring," Marissa LeBeau said from her end of the container. "She's an orphan from the South side. A Bayville native."

"Is she okay?" Kylie Rasputin asked.

Silence followed as my body refused to do anything. I felt like many the fool. Suddenly, a hand touched my face, big and calloused indicating a man, and felt for my pulse, "She's in shock, but she'll be fine."

The man who'd felt my pulse was Nathan Summers. He and his two sisters, Rachel and Gwen, practically ran the social scene. They were the elite of the athletic and popular elite, which was amazing considering their genetic structure should have condemned them like their friends. In fact, their relations to the other C.o.X. were an ineffective argument against their reign. No one else held that power, except maybe Warren Worthington IV before he left to study business in England, but no one seemed to care.

"She shouldn't even be here," Michael growled.

"Neither should we," Marissa pointed out, almost verbally rolling her eyes.

"Be quiet!" her twin, Carter, shouted. "We're dropping."

And we were. A sensation similar to the feeling just before the doors of an elevator open washed over me. When we landed, the top of the container immediately opened and snatched us out, despite their best attempts at otherwise.

I could see three other cylinders like the one I had just been in with more people being pulled out. We were all dropped into another cage, but this one was significantly different. It was a long rectangular shape, similar to an aquarium, but empty apart from us. It was made of what looked like glass, but I was nearly positive that if I tried to break it, it would break me.

"Welcome mutants!"

I jumped in surprise, but the rest of them looked completely at ease as they watched the villain clad in weird ribbonesque black armor with red highlights and a stark white face, adorned with a glowing red diamond in the center of his forehead. Gwen rolled her brown eye and ran a hand over her slightly disheveled pixie cut, "What now, Sinister?"

He laughed. It was a chilling sound, but I seemed to be the only one affected. Probably inexperience being the main factor, "Do you really expect anything different as the answer? I want your genetics, and what I want, I get, if only in time."

Alec Drake, one of the youngest of all present, being only an 8th grader, snickered, "Do _you_ really expect our parents to just leave us here and not try to find us? You do remember them, right? Do you really expect us to want to _stay_ and let you take our genetics?"

"Oh, I believe you've mistaken me. I'm not giving you a choice."

The red diamond in the middle of his pasty face glowed even brighter and a floating machine which looked like Weebo from _Flubber_ began to go around and scan everyone present through the faux glass. It must have been cataloguing them or something because when it hit me, it started beeping and flashing.

"Who is this?" the intimidating man asked.

Before anyone could help, as they moved to do so a moment too late, another metal extremity shot out, snatched me, and brought me out to dangle in front of him like a lazy wind chime. He smiled evilly, "Clearly you're not one of their siblings. You must be from their school!"

I was too afraid to reply, so he just continued, "Oh, well. You're an unnecessary observer. Kill the spare!"

He turned around to wave at one of his soldiers who came forward with a gun. _What is this? A Harry Potter movie? _The gun pointed at my chest and that set off the C.o.X. into a screaming match from their trapped state. Unable to think of anything else, but a way to protect myself, I curled into the fetal position as best as possible while still being held in the air around the waist, and concentrated my hardest on the gun and my will to live.

I heard a gunshot, silence, and then shrieks of relief and joy. I didn't understand how they could have been so happy that I was dying when I opened my eyes. I saw a golden bullet caught in midair and then I remembered.

I was a mutant, too.

This Sinister guy was now the shocked one, and I used that to my advantage as I pushed him as hard as I could using my telekinesis into the far wall. It didn't do much damage, so I just focused on putting a telekinetic shield around myself to protect myself from the onslaught of bullets flying at me from all directions. I'd never used my powers before, so that simple task was quite draining.

Thank goodness the adult X-men decided to show up then. I don't remember the fight, because the next time I saw anything that wasn't my bloody and horrifying dreams, I was on a bed in the X-men's infirmary. Harrison McCoy was standing over me, messing with some of the tubes in my arms while I attempted to wake up and ignore the needles. He started when he noticed I was awake, gaped for a moment, and ran off.

I waited in uncomfortable and scared loneliness for a minute before the adults walked in with a few of the children. Dr. Henry McCoy, Dr. Jean Summers, and Professor Charles Xavier were in the lead while Harrison, Nathan, and Areeta Moonstar followed.

"Good morning, Aliya," Charles smiled from his wheelchair. "Since you know who we are, that will save time. You have no need to be afraid."

I nearly laughed at the thought. How could I not be afraid of these people after what just happened?

His smile became a frown, "I know how this must appear, but I promise you that it was not meant for anyone to get captured, much less you. Now that we see you're a mutant, we'd like you to join us."

Dr. Summers stepped forward, "We've already talked with Ms. Redd at the orphanage. There would be no problems in transferring your living arrangements, and it's always an option to continue going to school at Bayville High, especially for someone whose powers are so in control."

"It doesn't appear that they will stay that way, I'm afraid," Dr. McCoy announced gravely. "She may very well end up like the others. She may have no other choice."

I must have looked petrified because Harrison threw a paper ball at him and said sarcastically, "Thanks Dad. As if she wasn't already scared enough..."

Areeta smiled as she came forward, "What he means is, it would be safer for you , like all of the others in your position, to stay and learn to control your powers. It seems because you never used them, they never got the chance to appropriately expand and now they want to get back to where they should be."

"Do I even have a say in this?" I whispered, a tear leaking free.

Nathan stiffened, but it wasn't aggressive. It was more like he was offended, "Of course. Your powers aren't as powerful as some telepaths and telekinetics and never will be, but they still are dangerous. We're merely _recommending_ that you stay."

He must have realized how rude he sounded because he blushed bright red and looked away from me. Harrison and Areeta shared a smile.

I finally made the connection, feeling rather stupid afterwards, that this was what must have happened to all of the others. It was nothing malicious. In fact, quite the opposite.

That was the moment I agreed to become and X-man. I stayed in the infirmary for a couple more days, it turns out a piece of the concrete ceiling had fallen on top of me and broken a few ribs. Harrison kept coming down to do some of the medical work, telling me about his desire to be just like his father, and Nathan was usually with him.

It struck me as odd because it was quite clear that, while friends, they weren't very close. I couldn't understand why he was following Harrison around. He never did anything useful when he did. It was pointless.

Finally, I was moved out of the infirmary and my meager possessions were already waiting for me in the room I would share with Kathleen Rasputin, one of the Rasputin triplets. Kylie and her, like many of the other same sex siblings, had been moved out as roommates when they approached nine years of age. They were then randomly put with other students; some C.o.X., some not.

Kathleen hadn't had a roommate since Areeta moved to college the year before. She was ecstatic.

When I walked into the room after being escorted by a silent and seemingly angry Rachel, Kathleen squealed and hugged me, despite my injured state. I hugged her back as best as I could after a pause and afterwards, she eagerly showed me where everything was in the room, telling me that if I needed anything, I could always ask or take it from her. I smiled as my eyes filled with tears. It was like I was a sister.

Kathleen, who told me to call her Kathy, pulled me down the stairs for dinner, I was included by almost everyone again, and no one stared at me like I was the kid who walked into the middle of class. It felt good. It felt like home.

It felt like a family.

Still, I couldn't help but notice how Rachel glared at me all throughout dinner, much to the apparent amusement of Gwen and Medea. Nathan now ignored me. Even some of the adults attempted to engage me in conversation, but not being a very loquacious person, it didn't work.

The similarities between the children and their parents was astounding. It wasn't hard to see where their personalities came from. The people I talked to the most were the teens like me, who weren't related to the Inner Circle of X. One in particular was named Hope. She was a hybrid between a calmer version of Kathleen and a hyper version of myself. It was easy to see that we would be fast friends.

While getting ready for bed, I asked Kathy, "Does Rachel hate all newcomers, or am I special?"

She laughed as she put her brown hair up in a ponytail, "Nah, she's just jealous. Don't mind her. She's always been like that. WEll, not that bad, but we kept trying to tell her it was going to happen."

"What was going to happen?"

"She wouldn't be Nathan's favorite anymore."

I dropped the book I'd been holding, "What?"

She rolled her eyes, "If you think the rest of us are close, you ain't seen nothing yet. The Summers family is, like, _really _close."

"How close?"

"Not close like you're thinking. THey just tend to be very protective of each other, and the men are all gentlemen. They are picked on big time, even Scott and Alex Summers, for being the girl's bitches."

"And Rachel?"

She sighed, "Rachel is spoiled. She is the youngest, our age, and Nathan is the oldest, a senior. For a long time, Nathan would do anything he could to protect her and make her happy. Gwen always preferred doing things on her own. Then, as they got older, Nathan began to notice that women were actually likeable, except he never wanted to date anyone before."

"Before?"

"You."

I gasped, "He..."

"Likes you? Oooooh yeah. For about a year now. We used to joke that he was acting like a stalker, but I promise he wasn't that bad," Kathy giggled. "You knew, from where I stand, you two could be a pretty good match."

I shook my head, "Uh-uh. No way. I have no interest in dating, especially a popular."

She grinned, "That's what you think."

Unfortunately, she turned out to be right.

After a few months, I began to get into the swing of things around the Institute. I also began to watch Nathan. He never talked to me, and from what I could see, barely looked at me. The only time he even interacted with me was in Danger Room sessions or on a mission, when he barely left my side. However, when November of my junior year hit, he got brave and stopped me in the hallway, "Hello."

"Hi," I said, amazed that he'd spoken to me.

"I'll see you later, Li!" Hope shouted as she walked toward class with a secretive smile on her face. I wished she would have stayed.

He scratched the back of his neck in nervousness, "I, uh, have to got to class or my professor will skin me alive, but I was wondering if you, um, might, uh..."

He couldn't finish, staring at the ground as his face turned bright red. It was adorable, so I smiled and finished for him, "Go out?"

His blue eyes met my green with a new brightness, "Yeah, would you?"

In a great show of courage, I kissed his cheek, "When you come back to get ready for work, I'll be waiting. You work at Steamers, right? The coffee shop?"

I walked down the hall, leaving him behind to grin like an idiot. I walked to Ms. LeBeau's American History class just as the bell rang. She didn't reprimand me, but rather winked with a smile and began class. Hope shot me a questioning look with Kathy watching eagerly. I just mouthed, "Later."

It seemed later was just after class, as when the bell rang, I was swarmed. A few of the C.o.X, much to my surprise, preferred the security of the mansion, which would explain me never having seen Kathleen or Areeta until I became an X-man. I was swarmed by Hope, Kathy, Talia Wagner, and Irina Da Costa.

"What happened?" Kathy said, practically jumping up and down.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "It's in his hands now."

Clearly she wanted more information, so I told them about my offer. They all smiled and dragged me upstairs to go over outfits and stuff. Apparently anyone of the C.o.X. dating was a big deal.

I walked down the stairs later and he was waiting in a chair for me. Nathan's eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline when he saw me, making me shoot a reluctant mental thank you to my friends. I was wearing a sky blue sundress with white sandals and a jean jacket on over. I looked more like a girl than ever before. I had hated it when they were doing it to me, but now it was worth it.

"Are you ready to go?"

"When you are."

Without going into too much gooey detail, we learned quite a bit about each other, making me swallow all earlier harsh thoughts I'd had about him. He wasn't a popular jerk, but a sweet, intelligent man with the potential for great leadership.

He brought me to his family's private Christmas celebration later that year. Even Rachel managed to overcome her previous hostility and smile at me. Unfortunately, happiness doesn't last forever.

I heard a saying once comparing pain and pleasure to a coin with two different sides. You can only see one at a time, but the other one is waiting to come around. That was a lesson learned I could have lived without.

We were awakened, the younger X-men, by an alarm alerting us to a mission. It was typical now for the younger trained X-men to go out on missions with a few older X-men as leaders. We dressed in our uniforms and ran out to the Blackbird to meet with Storm and Iceman.

Our mission had been fairly simple. Eliminate Sinister's Sentinel copies while saving the civilians he was attacking. Seemingly easy.

Our execution had been fatal.

When we were nearly done with the mission, a few of us began to slack off a bit. Unfortunately, we didn't notice the one Sentinel that had survived our blasts, and it blasted back, right into Talia Wagner's chest. She was gone before anyone could blink.

Going home one short and having to tell her parents that their daughter was in need of a funeral was one of the worst things I'd ever had to witness. Her death had torn everyone apart and it was still the worst sort of evil to speak her name.

Needless to say, the best thing that happened through all of these years was the family I made. The diamond engagement ring on my third finger is proof of that. The public thinks that I, and the other engaged girls at Bayville, are too young, but I say, they don't understand. The worst part?

They never will.

Or at least if they will, it won't be until I am dust in the wind. I've heard the horror stories from Logan and Mr. Summers. I've seen the tears on Mr. and Mrs. Wagner's faces when they had to bury their daughter. I felt the sting of the slap from an elderly woman at the grocery store calling me an abomination.

I also felt the protective embrace of Mrs. Rasputin as she held me like she did her two daughters and son. She'd understood. They all had, the X-men I mean. They'd lived the worst of it, before I was born, and were trying to save their babies the pain they'd felt.

No matter their pasts, no matter the present, all they cared about was their futures, and that future now included me. For the last time, when I looked on the headstone of a friend, did I feel sorry for myself.

I turned to my future mother-in-law after the funeral and asked her the same question she'd probably asked herself a thousand times, "What happens now?"

She'd simply smiled at me and responded wisely, "Now, we live."

And live we did.

**Amazing what sort of inspiration can come from thinking about an X-men : Evolution epilogue on the toilet. Yes, that's where this one came from. I know it's terrible, but it was my first time writing something in this manner and run by a character who wasn't even close to being in the show. I hope you enjoyed my attempt and please leave a review to help me improve. :)**


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